These two items make the Covid news this Wednesday 25th August. Once again, we are over the mark of 400 cases. On top of that, there has been the death of the 73-year-old patient at Victoria Hospital in Candos, who has tested positive but has not been listed in the register of the Ministry of Health. Several schools will also remain closed on Thursday 26th August.
3 admissions to ENT
399 asymptomatic cases have been registered and 3 have been admitted to the ENT hospital in Vacoas. The cases are increasing despite the fact that the count is being done under the new protocol put into effect last Friday, 20th August. The protocol basically excludes asymptomatic and vaccinated people under 65 years of age, who are denied access to PCR and Rapid Testing in public centres and hospitals. To date, we have counted 796,003 primary vaccinated and 713,161 who have a complete vaccination schedule.
An unaccounted-for victim?
In the case of the deceased 73-year-old Benjamin Coret, alias Reshad, the resident of Belle Rose, he was admitted to Victoria Hospital in Candos for respiratory complications and his Covid positivity was discovered only after his admission. He was undergoing treatment for a month. The Ministry of Health claims not to be aware that this patient was undergoing treatment for Covid at this hospital or that he died from the virus.
Three infected police officers
They are from the Traffic Branch in Port Louis. The two, who tested positive, are in self-isolation while the unvaccinated one has been sent to a quarantine centre for further observation. The Traffic Branch was able to return to service after a disinfection exercise.
Anxiety at CEB
At the Transformer Workshop of the Central Electricity Board (CEB) in Plaine-Lauzun, panic reigns in a team of sixty employees. Two members of the team have tested positive to the rapid antigenic test and PCR test on Tuesday 24th August. There has been no government sponsored mass testing of the rest of the staff due to the implementation of the new protocol. The Ministry of Public Utilities states that there has been only one case recorded, not two, and that testing will only be done on direct contacts and they should isolate themselves.
Is it already holidays?
For the Hindu Girls College in Curepipe, the holidays have been brought forward to Wednesday 25th August following a case of infection of a Grade 11 student. Same for the Loretto colleges of Quatre Bornes and Saint Pierre. A number of students under the ‘scaterred classing’ will be back on Friday only to commemorate the holiday. They are: Notre Dame College in Curepipe, Islamic Cultural College in Port Louis, MGSS in Flacq and Soondur Munrakhun College in Montagne Longue. The primary schools, Doorgachun Hurry Government School in Goodlands, Sri Rajiv Gandhi Government School in Flacq, and Palma Government School will reopen on Friday 27th August.
